In homes, cafés, offices, schools and several places across the country, every one was glued to the new Leaderbaord app on their devices.
Their faces were tense as they surveyed the rankings.
Even the areas outside the Paths were packed with people. Each zone was flooded with media, students, reporters, and relatives of the Chosen.
Some paced about, worried about their loved ones, while some just filmed and recorded every moment.
Security guards and police struggled to keep people away from the Paths to prevent the crowd from becoming dangerously packed.
The only thing seemingly keeping them calm was the Leaderboard app.
It broadcasted the ongoing round inside the Paths in different categories.
The zone ranking. The country ranking. And the global ranking.
______________
༄ ROUND 1༄
• QUEST: Slay 330 Elite Red Orcs
• ZONE: ETL 0891
Ranks•| Status•| Code Name•| Kills•
_____________________________________
1 [Active] Lightless Candle(M) 0/330
______________________________________
2 [Active] Lazy Zest (M) 0/330
______________________________________
3 [Active] Chaotic Scum (M) 0/330
______________________________________
4 [Active] Cola Bear (F) 0/330
______________________________________
5 [Active] Ghostetik (M) 0/330
_________________
• ALL ZONES IN KOREA•
Ranks•| Status•| Code Name•| Kills•
______________________________________
1 [Active] Fearless Rebel (M) 0/330
______________________________________
2 [Active] Unkind Hater (M) 0/330
______________________________________
3[Active]Conscious Villain(M) 0/330
______________________________________
4[Active]Mindless Sapien(M) 0/330
______________________________________
5 [Active] Kanonic Haze (F) 0/330
_______________
•GLOBAL ZONE•
Ranks• |Status• |Code Name•| Kills
______________________________________
1 [Active] Flameless Lamp 0/330
_ _ _ _ _ (F) [Japanese]
______________________________________
2 [Active] Careless Champion 0/330
_ _ _ _ _ (M) [Nigerian]
______________________________________
3 [Active] Ancient Viper 0/330
_ _ _ _ _ (M) [Chinese]
______________________________________
4 [Active] Weightless Skunk 0/330
_ _ _ _ _(M) [English]
______________________________________
5 [Active] Moraless Geek 0/330
_ _ _ _ _(M) [Moroccan]
_______________
"330 Red Orcs?!!"
Stunned gasps echoed through the crowd.
"Isn't this quite absurd? Who would ask this of humans?"
"Wait, real orcs?"
"I'm so scared for them hic… this is like a suicide mission."
"But is it like a game? They even have code names."
"Hah, the poor chosen."
Most were pretty shaken. The fear in the air was thick. But as they could do nothing, they resorted to hope and prayer.
As they did, a Chosen's progress from Zone ETL 0891 whose rank was at 4, shifted. And her progress changed to 2/330.
Her code name immediately moved up to rank 1 in the leaderboard.
The people were taken aback for some moments, stunned.
But in the next second, joy quickly replaced the fear and worry.
"S-Someone moved!"
The small progress reignited their hope that the Chosen might succeed.
Their eyes instantly lit up in pride and joy. Even though they didn't particularly know who the Chosen was, they were overjoyed.
Some of the youths were pumped, hopping and cheering.
"Yes! That's it! You can do it Cola Bear!"
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
Back inside Zone ETL 089, most of the Chosen stood frozen in panic while the red orcs remained calm and in formation.
The celestial gazed down from above with uncontainable thrill. A wide grin stretched across her ethereal face, making her look downright creepy.
"Start the fun!" She announced, cackling as she flew away.
"C-Can we really beat these things?" A Chosen choked, clearly still dreading the sight of the Red Orcs.
"Without weapons, we're as good as food for them. Honestly, the celestial should have just given us a peaceful death like he gave the others."
"I-I don't want to die," a male Chosen clutched himself, a dark cloud cast over his figure.
As they lamented, dreading their situation and foreseeing their deaths, a loud explosion tore through the air.
Thick purple smoke billowed outward, engulfing some of the shield-bearing orcs at the front and swallowing them from sight.
In that instant, a female Chosen hurled a thick, heavy chain through the smoke. It coiled around one of the shields and was wrenched backward, pulling with it a red orc whose hand was bound tight to the shield.
The orc's massive body lurched forward, pulled not by strength, but by lost balance.
The sudden smoke blinded several of the red orcs and threw their formation into chaos.
They stumbled and dropped to their knees in disorientation.
The girl gave them no time to recover or for the other orcs to counter.
With a violent yank, she hauled the bound orc toward her by its shield.
The moment it came within reach, she leapt into the air, landed atop the staggering orc, and drove the thick dagger fixed to the chain straight into its neck.
Keeping the blade buried, she unwound the chain from the shield and snapped it back through the gap left by the restrained orc.
The chain lashed onto another red orc, one without a shield, still reeling from the smoke.
As she dragged the second orc toward her, she forced the dagger deeper into the first, spraying blood across her face.
As the second orc neared, she rose, stepping onto the embedded dagger to sink it even further as she hurled herself toward the new orc.
Mid-air, she drew a blue katana from her waist, yanked the other orc closer, and severed its head in a single, clean strike.
[Alert! You have slain an Elite Red Orc!]
[+4 exp!]
[You have slain an Elite Red Orc]
[+4 exp!]
[You have displayed exceptional control under combat pressure, and displayed great finesse with the chain. Skill acquired: Iron Coil→Level 1]
The girl landed gracefully. Behind her, the orcs who had remained standing swayed for a moment before collapsing lifelessly.
Seeing this, the orcs immediately regained control. Even before the smoke fully cleared, they got back into formation.
But she couldn't care less. She had just taken down two and could do it again.
So she wasn't that bothered.
But to the other Chosen, she turned, clearly bothered.
"What exactly got you all trembling in your boots? They are literally barbecues with legs. Someone grab sauce and we're good."
"…..."
"..."
The silence was deafening.
If her attempt was to make a lighthearted joke, then it failed miserably. But one thing that was for sure was that her bold display amazed the Chosen, just as it did the system.
"That's right," Fearless Rebel said from the crowd. "But to boldly stand in front of us and glorify your feat like you didn't greedily hog two weapons to yourself…."
The girl, tall and slender, with code name; Cola Bear, came to a freezing seize.
Her short, pale apricot hair that framed her face shimmered under the harsh sunlight as she trembled like a cornered mouse caught in
the act.
"I-I mean, everyone just seemed to be grabbing it so I… I… and if I didn't, someone else would have, so I—"
"Where did that purple smoke come from?" Fearless Rebel cut her short.
"Oh!" She let out lowly.
Her demeanor quickly switched from pale and shaky to one of eagerness like someone about to recount an exciting adventure.
"From here," she tapped a small drawstring pouch tied to the other side of her waist.
Her face was stretched in a smile as she spoke with excitement.
"It was tied to one of the weapon racks and it caught my eyes so I took it. And I—"
"That makes three weapons," Fearless Rebel fired.
"…."
"…."
The girl once again froze, struck silent with a guilty face.
"Continue," Fearless Rebel broke the silence with a nod.
"W-Well, at first I didn't know what it was but when I looked into the pouch, there were round purple balls and the strong smell almost knocked out my senses," she started.
Although quiet and mindful, the excitement on recounting this still lingered.
"It was dusty, so I guessed what it was and used it. I thought it would knock out the red orcs but seeing how quickly they recovered, I guess it's for distraction purposes only."
As they talked, a Chosen without any weapon ran to one of the fallen orcs and grabbed its shield and spear.
She quickly looked back to Fearless Rebel, her face bright as it spelt 'See? Everyone's greedy!
Even the unfortunate Chosen that had no luck in grabbing any weapon and had cussed out the others for being greedy took two for themselves when the opportunity came.
Under the piercing stares of the others, the Chosen felt neither shame nor guilt.
His face only read that they were there for survival and for that, they'd do anything.
Following this, another Chosen quickly rushed toward the other fallen orc and took its spiked, massive wooden greatclub.
She looked toward Fearless Rebel again, silently saying , 'See? They're hijacking it!'
But Fearless Rebel didn't seem to care about it.
"Do you still have any left?" He asked, referring to the smoke pellets.
"Yes, there are still quite a few," she shook the pouch at him.
"Though I doubt the orcs would fall twice to this trick because they're now more alert," she added.
"Right… it doesn't matter though, because we can just burst through their defense."
He raised his thick, heavy axe and flipped it over his shoulder with great power, ready for the battle.
"Uhm… you might want to reconsider that," Cola Bear said, looking toward the orcs.
Fearless Rebel followed her gaze and—
Lo and behold, the orcs had not only gotten back into formation, but more than a thousand of them were already positioned with their bows and arrows, ready to strike.
The shield-bearing orcs at the front pressed their shields together, forming an unbreakable wall that blocked all access and sheltered the inner ranks.
Within the formation, orcs wielding close-combat weapons hoisted their archers onto their shoulders, raising them above the formation to give them greater reach and a clear line of sight.
Perched above the shield wall, the archers drew back their strings.
In a single coordinated motion—
FWOOSH!
The arrows rose into the sky.
A heartbeat later…
They came down like judgment.